


Honesty (is the best policy)

by WhatBecomesOfYou



Category: The Fosters (TV 2013)
Genre: F/F, Pre-Canon, Second Date
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-23
Updated: 2013-12-23
Packaged: 2018-01-05 17:06:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1096410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhatBecomesOfYou/pseuds/WhatBecomesOfYou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lena and Stef go out on their second date, and have a little conversation about honesty.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Honesty (is the best policy)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SarahJeanne](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SarahJeanne/gifts).



“Hey, Lena, I just thought I'd leave you a quick message,” Stef said. “I, uh, had a really great time at dinner. I'd like to see you again. Call me back.” She hung up the phone and stared at it. She had never been known as a charming person, and would likely not be the top contender for best date of the year. But her dinner with Lena the other night – it made her feel things. Things that she hadn't felt – well, ever, if she was truly honest with herself, but the closest she could come within her own experiences was the early days of when she was dating Mike.

She probably would have left ridiculously awkward messages on Mike's voicemail if he had had it at the time. Did she leave awkward answering machine messages? She couldn't remember, but that wasn't what was important. Not now.

Lena was the embodiment of everything that she had tried to suppress about herself when she was a teenager. She had this way about her, where everything seemed easy and laid-back, and she highly doubted that there was some secret layer where everything was not as it seemed to be.

She looked up at the phone again, and then it rang.

Once. Twice. _Ring. Ring_.

It was probably a telemarketer. It had to be a telemarketer. Those were the only people who ever called her – them and people offering divorce-related services. Which she also promptly ignored, for what it was worth, because there was nothing that she hated more than vultures who preyed on people's vulnerabilities.

She was newly separated. Possibly entering into a new relationship. Mother to the best little seven year old boy in the entire metropolitan San Diego area – okay, so she thought Brandon was even better than that, but she wanted him to keep his humility about him, so she narrowed down the accolade. She was tough – being a cop, she almost had to be – but she had her weaknesses. Her son was definitely one of them.

The phone continued to ring. _Ring. Ring_.

Damn it. The caller ID wasn't working. She needed to get a new battery for it, but that was the least of her concerns. Finally, on the fifth ring, she scooped up the phone in her hands. “Hi, this is Stef.”

“Hey.” It was Lena's voice coming across the phone line. “I got your message.”

“Oh, uh.” Stef was taken aback – less by the fact that it wasn't someone trying to get her to buy timeshares in Tucson and more by the fact that it was the one person that she actually wanted to hear from. “You can delete that message, you know.”

“No, I don't think I will,” Lena said with a laugh. “Because I enjoyed dinner with you too. And I was wondering if you wanted to do it again sometime soon?”

 _K_ _eep it cool, Stef. If you're over-eager, you're going to scare her away_. “Yeah. That – that sounds good.”

“How do fish tacos sound?”

“They sound delicious.”

“I know this really great new fish taco restaurant. It's a bit of a hike, but it's worth the drive. Trust me.”

“Okay. Friday night?”

“What other night of the week is there?” Lena laughed again, and Stef felt her heart lighten at the sound.

When she hung up the phone, she felt like she was in a daze, grinning widely. She was going out on a second date with Lena. They could call it a date, right? It probably wasn't just two people with mutual interests going out to dinner – a hike, Lena had described it. Two people with mutual interests would just find something in the neighborhood.

This was definitely a date.

~

Stef sipped at her margarita over her fish taco. It wasn't very often that she drank, but something about the night told her to throw caution to the wind and enjoy herself. Lena had also ordered something to drink, but had opted for something lighter and pink than her own. “So, what's Brandon up to tonight?” Lena asked. “Did you leave him with your ex or the babysitter?”

Stef swallowed. “The ex. Mike. He said something about maybe taking Brandon to a Padres game tonight, so that would be nice. A little father-son bonding.”

“I bet it's tough on Brandon. But he's a good kid,” Lena said. “Always well-behaved and treats the other kids well.”

“That's my Brandon,” Stef said.

“He has a good mother. I can tell.” Lena smiled at her, and put her taco down on her plate. “You obviously care about him quite a bit.”

“I do. He's my little trooper.”

They fell silent, the sound of chewing and swallowing being the only sounds that could be heard from their table. Finally, after a few minutes, Lena cleared her throat and fixed her gaze to Stef. “I wanted to call you after our last date,” she said. “But I wasn't sure.”

“Why not?”

“Because I wasn't sure if you were going out with me because you actually wanted to be with me, or because -”

“Because you thought I wasn't over Mike.” She exhaled sharply. “What can I do to convince you that I am?”

“Honestly?” Lena asked. “It wasn't because of that. It was because I just got out of a long-term relationship not that long ago myself, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to do that to myself again. Put myself out there again.”

“That makes two of us,” Stef said. “I thought – after Mike – that there would be no one that I'd ever be interested in again, or at least not for a really long time. But then there was you, and I thought things might be different now.”

Lena looked at her, her eyes open wide. “You mean you are.”

“Yeah, I am. There – you aren't the first – it's not like I haven't been attracted to women before,” she said, throwing her hands up in the air. “But I wanted to make my father happy.”

“So you dated Mike.”

“And look how that turned out. I have Brandon, but I'm not as happy as I should be,” she said. “I just want to be happy. And I think I can be happy with you.”

“You really think you can be?” Lena asked. She pushed her plate away from her and faced Stef. “I don't want to ask you to do something that you don't feel you can do.”

Stef nodded. “If I'm being honest?”

“Yeah?”

“I'd do this,” she said, leaning in and brushing her lips against Lena's in a soft, tender, tentative kiss. It was a bold step, but one she knew she needed to take. Because there was no other way that this could go, for both of their sakes. “How's that for honesty?”

“I think you need to convince me a little more,” Lena said, leaning in for a second kiss, throwing in a little sly wink for good measure. And then there was a third kiss. And then the remainder of their dinner and margaritas sat there unconsumed and growing more room temperature by the minute, as they kissed again, and again.

“How about we go back to my place and do that in private?” Lena asked.

“I think,” Stef said, “that sounds like a terrific idea.”


End file.
